About ASAP

Growing Minds is a program of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. ASAP’s mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

K-2

Children and animals alike excitedly anticipate yellow time, when the trees release their colorful leaves to blanket the earth, crows raise their voices joyfully from the bare branches, and squirrels busy themselves preparing their nests for winter. This lyrical celebration of the beauty and fun of autumn is sure to become a perennial fall favorite.

The O’Leary’s lived on a small farm with their cat, farm animals, and one not-so-welcome guest: a groundhog that liked to eat all of their fresh vegetables every summer. As Mr. O’Leary devises a plan to keep the groundhog from stealing all of their veggies, the readers are able to learn about life on a small farm, the changing seasons, and the mutual relationships humans share with animals.

Soil is every-where, and everything comes from soil! A Handful of Dirt gives students an in-depth look at how soil is formed, what it’s made of, and why it is important to all life—from microorganisms to worms to rabbits. Learn about the different jobs of microscopic creatures in the soil and discover hidden activity that’s always happening just below our feet.

Sophie and her friends work together to grow a neighborhood vegetable garden. From zucchini to potatoes to carrots, the kids grow it all. Page by page, vegetable by vegetable A Harvest of Color gives great gardening advice in the voice of the children, and offers hints that are helpful to any gardener, old or young. You’ll love the book’s realistic photographs of Sophie and her friends gardening.

Annie’s family has moved to the prairie, and her mother is sad to leave her old life behind and start anew as a pioneer. Annie knows that the thing that will make her mother happy again is to plant a flower garden, just like the one she had back home.

Learn how the modern-day descendants of the Nashua Indians and European settlers were able to combat pollution and restore the beauty of the Nashua River in Massachusetts. The book’s beautiful illustrations depict the passage of time from early Native American tribes to modern day.